Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms and Associated Psychosocial Risk Factors among French University Students: the Moderating and Mediating Effects of Resilience.

University students constitute a higher risk population for mental health problems, especially for depression. Given the lack of literature addressing such issues in France, this study estimated the prevalence rates of depression, its sociodemographic correlates in French university students [FUS], and examined whether resilience resources moderated and mediated the relationship between perceived stress and depressive symptoms. Participants (N = 1435, Mage = 20.5) completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), the Perceived Stress Scale, the Brief Resilience Scale, and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Descriptive, multiple logistic regressions, and mediation analyses were used. With respect to the BDI-II's cutoff scores, 20.3% (95% CI: 18.3 to 22.4%) and 22.8% (95% CI: 20.7 to 25.0%) were positive to moderate and severe depression, respectively. Gender and education attainment appeared to be moderate risk factors when accounting for cumulative effect of perceived stress and resilience. Resilience buffered and partially mediated the perceived stress-depression relationship. In conclusion, the prevalence of depression was higher in FUS, as reported in previous studies. The amount of academic and daily stress explained this prevalence. University students with low resilience level were more at risk. Interventions aiming to improve resilience skills could help to mitigate the negative effects of stress and to promote mental health in this population.

Persistent depressive and grief symptoms for up to 10 years following perinatal loss: Involvement of negative cognitions.

BACKGROUND: Perinatal loss is known to be associated with a heightened risk of mental health complications. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying the perinatal grief process are less well documented. We hypothesized that negative cognitions are associated with post-perinatal loss symptomatology, and vary according to whether the death occurs before or after birth. METHODS: We adopted a cross-sectional design to assess demographics, variables related to the death, five types of negative cognitions (about the self, world, life, future, and self-blame), prolonged grief, and depressive symptoms. The sample included 98 perinatally bereaved mothers with a mean age of 33.9 years. RESULTS: When we controlled for demographics and variables related to the death, hierarchical linear regression showed that maladaptive cognitions about life, the future and the world were associated with prolonged grief symptoms, whereas only maladaptive cognitions about the world were associated with depressive symptoms. Significant interaction effects confirmed that cognitions about the world were associated with increased depressive symptoms when the death occurred after the birth, and cognitions about life when it occurred before the birth. LIMITATIONS: The cross-sectional design precluded causal conclusions. However, the sample size was relatively representative and limited to perinatally bereaved mothers. CONCLUSIONS: Different negative cognitions are involved in persistent depressive versus grief symptoms following perinatal loss, and vary depending on the type of loss. These results will serve to enhance perinatal grief interventions.